


Something That You'll Never Forget

by shadyplots



Category: iZombie (TV)
Genre: F/F, gay af coffee shop au, no zombies, peyrinne, this is for u mil, we hate blaine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-14 02:57:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11774067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadyplots/pseuds/shadyplots
Summary: Peyton is in need of caffeine and a quiet place to work. Corinne is the cute barista who looks a little familiar.





	1. Smooth

"I'm heading out." Peyton said, grabbing her coat from the hanger. "See you later." 

"Don't forget! Potluck Tuesday!" Liv called. 

"I won't!" She yelled back. "I'll pick something up on the way home." With that, the door closed and Peyton walked through the dismal hallway of their apartment block. One of the lights had broken recently, and nobody had thought to even fix it. Posters were peeling off the walls, and one flat was missing a door. She kept encouraging Liv to move out of here, but the girl would never listen. 

Her phone buzzed, indicating a text from Baracus. She sighed - it was some update she didn't care about, not even relevant to the current government discussions. As if she didn't have enough on her mind, Baracus seemed convinced Peyton wanted to hear about his personal life. Like they were friends. 

As she finished typing up a response, Peyton realised she'd reached the coffee shop. Positivity was glowing with warmth, a stark contrast against the gray sky and rainy weather - the windows shone with orange light, and from inside she heard the quiet laughter of the other patrons. Maybe she'd actually be able to get work done here, without the distractions of Liv's endless DDR games and Major's awful singing. 

As soon as Peyton stepped in through the door, one of the cashiers waved to her. 

"Hey, welcome to Positivity! What can I get for you this amazing morning?"

Peyton glanced up at the menu, inhaling the calming scent of coffee that filled the air, and then looked back down at the girl in the yellow apron. 

"I'll have an iced Americano, please!" 

"Great choice." The girl smiled brightly, and called to another co-worker. "And who is that for?" 

"Peyton." 

"What a lovely name!" The girl's grin still did not disappear. Peyton was sort of creeped out, sort of endeared. "It's coming right up." 

Peyton went and sat down at one of the tables whilst she waited, and took out her notebook. She had an extremely terrifying to-do list set out for tonight, Baracus using her status as his PA to give her all the tasks he didn't want to do. Arrange public appearances, email Diane, talk to the new assistant DA... and organise her things for Pot Luck Tuesday, which she actually had forgotten until Liv reminded her. She had to think up something to make, or she'd look dumb in front of everyone. And to make matters worse, Liv had invited over some friends, and it was important she made a good first impression. 

She put her head in her hands, and sighed. 

"What's getting you down?" The barista had suddenly materialised, and was shaking a plastic cup in Peyton's face. The ice cubes jangled, creating an pleasant clinking sound. 

"Oh, it's nothing. Just work." 

The barista placed the coffee down on the table, and bent down to look Peyton in the eyes, which was sort of weird. 

"Don't be stressed. You can do it." 

"I-" The barista was already walking away, leaving Peyton sat in her wooden chair awkwardly. She should probably get on with some work - potluck tuesday wouldn't organise itself. 

* * *

 

"I'm back!" Peyton said, heading through the door with her bag of shopping. The living room was already crowded, Major and Ravi arriving early to help get ready. Liv stood in the kitchen, and the others were watching something on YouTube, a guy yelling about the latest episode of The Flash. Nobody responded to her call, so she dumped the groceries on the counter and slumped down on the sofa.

"Busy day?" Major asked, eyes not moving from the video on screen.

"Yeah. Baracus is working me even harder than the DA's office." 

"Cool." 

"So who's coming over?" Peyton asked. Major clearly wasn't looking for conversation right now, but it was necessary information in order to adequately adjust her stress level. 

"Uhhh..." Major trailed off. "Liv, who's coming?"

Liv walked over from the kitchen, still dressed in her 'kiss the chef' apron and oven gloves. 

"My friends Justin, Drake, Lowell, and Rita. Oh, and Major's friends Corinne and Natalie." 

Peyton nodded slowly. She'd met most of them at least once or twice, and they all seemed like lovely people. Best of all, nobody had invited that creep Blaine, who worked with Drake sometimes. He'd turned up at some of their parties before, and subsequently ruined them. Her stress level successfully decreased.

A burning smell wafted into the seating area, and Liv jumped up.

"My pastries!" She yelped, running back to the cooker. 

* * *

 

Liv had made the guys turn off whatever video they were watching, and put on some poppy music. Ravi had opened some wine. Major had laid the table with an assortment of snacks, something the group could always rely on him to bring. Any minute, the guests would start arriving, and Peyton would morph into the socialite she'd become awfully adept at being. 

There was a knock at the door. 

"I'll get it!" Ravi called, hoisting himself up from the comfortable leather sofa with a glass of rose already in his hand. He opened the door with the other, and the two guys behind it practically pushed their way into the tiny flat.

"Liv! What's up, girl?" Justin yelled, throwing his arms around Liv. Drake, meanwhile leant against the doorframe and surveyed the room, before presenting Peyton with a ceramic dish covered in tinfoil. 

"Hi Justin, hey Drake." Liv said, emerging from Justin's bear hug. Her hair was slightly mussed, and she had a huge smile on her face. Peyton placed the dish down, and allowed herself to also be drawn in by Justin. 

"Where's Lowell?" Liv asked, curiously. She'd expected them to arrive together. 

"He was asleep when we knocked for him." Drake admitted. "I had to call him, and when he _finally_ answered the door, the guy was still in pyjamas." 

"He looked a mess." Justin added, helpfully. Liv shook her head - this was totally normal for Lowell, who didn't wake up until 3pm on a good day. She knew he hadn't forgot, just stayed up late at a gig and slept in on accident. Justin didn't mean to be rude either, and he was probably right. Any day Lowell didn't have bed hair and stained clothes was a rare occasion. 

"Love the sweater, Drake." Peyton said, tugging at the shapeless woolen garment draped over the man's shoulders. He smiled and lifted up his arms to twirl, the oversized sleeves hanging almost to his waist. 

"Thanks, my mom made it for me!" 

"Tell her I think it's cute, won't you?" 

Drake moved to shut the door behind him, when a skinny arm pushed it back open. Rita had arrived, and behind her was Lowell, looking tired and predictably dishevelled. 

"Hey, Olivia!" Rita said, slinking into the room and dumping her handbag onto the floor with a clunk. "Hey, everyone else." She flicked her hair over her shoulder, and strode over to slip her hand around Liv's waist.

Lowell shuffled in behind her, holding up his hand as a greeting and shrugging his jacket onto the floor. 

"So we're just waiting on Corinne and Natalie?" Peyton asked Major. She'd met Natalie, but this other girl was still a mystery. 

"That's right. They should be here any moment, Natalie said she's just outside." With that, the door handle began to twist downwards.

* * *

 

Corinne was so not what Peyton was expecting. Firstly, she wasn't Major's usual type at all. Secondly, she just so happened to be the weird barista Peyton had met earlier at Positivity, complete with stunning smile and unnerving positivity. Tonight though, she'd lost the yellow apron and was instead wearing a patterned jumpsuit. It was cute. Peyton wondered where she got it from. 

Meanwhile, Liv and Rita were very obviously flirting. It was sickening. Rita kept doing that irritating thing where she flicked her hair over her shoulder (current count: 5), and Liv turned bright red when Rita discreetly slipped her hand into Liv's. Not to mention, her chair screeched when she tried to edge it closer to Rita's, halting all conversation as heads turned to the direction of the noise. 

Peyton decided she'd try and chat with Corinne. The girl intrigued her, what with her unfaltering grin and perfect hair. Did Peyton mention she had perfect hair? Because it was good, better than her own, with a subtle wave that said 'I'm trying, but not too hard'. The look Peyton had been trying to achieve for so many months. On top of the perfect hair, too, Corinne had the most adorable voice, which made Peyton blush and lose the ability to talk sometimes. All of this confused Peyton a lot. 

"Corinne!" She said, a little too brightly. Corinne turned to look at her, bright eyes instantly fixed on Peyton's face. She looked expectant, which led Peyton to realise she had nothing to say and too many questions to choose from. "So... how do you know Major?" 

"We met at a party!" Corinne said. Peyton melted slightly. "We were playing jenga. He's really good at jenga, aren't you Major?" 

Major, hearing his name, turned around and joined the conversation, Peyton trying not to shudder in annoyance. 

"Huh? Yeah. I love Jenga." The man seemed not to know where he was unwelcome. 

"Great. So, Corinne-" Peyton turned so her back was facing Major - "That coffee you made me was really good." 

"I didn't make it, but my co-worker Ruth did! I'll tell her when I next see her though, I'm sure she'd be so happy to hear that!" She still looked impossibly joyous. 

"You don't need to."

"Oh." Corinne's face fell slightly, until she thought of something to ask Peyton. "Did you get all your work done alright?" 

"My work? Oh yeah, yeah." This was going horribly. Worse than any conversation Peyton could remember, except maybe the one with Blaine where she accused him of being a liar and also a criminal. Think, think...

"Oh dang, looks like my boss is trying to call me. Guess I'll have to step outside and answer it." _Is this the best you can do, Peyton?_ "Sorry, Corinne, it was lovely talking to you." 

"It's alright! I'll be here when you get back."

"Okay. Bye now." For an ex-lawyer, Peyton couldn't lie for shit. Actually, that probably explained the '-ex'. 


	2. Hit It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peyton goes back to Positivity, determined to not fuck things up this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if ur reading this millie, finish s2

"Oh, hi Peyton!" Corinne said, watching Peyton make her way over to the counter. She was wearing that yellow apron again and looked frustratingly good for 7am, her hair in a messy bun and her cheeks rosy with happiness. Peyton looked like a total slob in comparison, dressed in sweatpants and an old college hoodie. Nobody had ever made her feel so lazy before.

Peyton trudged over to the counter, urging herself to make conversation. 

"Yes. Hi." 

 _Well, that's a start._ Peyton dug out her purse from her hoodie pocket, and looked around the empty store. "Not much business today, huh?" 

"Probably because it's 7am." 

"Yeah, that's... that's probably why." Peyton faltered. How was this girl so good at ending conversations? Peyton was trying her best, baring her soul and grossest hoodie to the world. And Corinne was barely picking up. She just wanted to be friends, maybe flirt a little - was that so hard?

"So, what can I get you this amazing day?" 

"Double espresso shot." Peyton murmured, a little discouraged. "To go, please." She didn't know what she'd done wrong. Maybe Corinne just wasn't talkative. Maybe Peyton was shit at human interaction this early in the morning. Maybe, Corinne hated her. She sighed audibly, and dumped her fist of dollar bills and coins on the counter, not even wasting another look on the other girl. Not used to being brushed off, Peyton had already given up. 

She decided to wait in her usual seat, and slumped into the soft cushion, allowing it to envelop her. How unfair was it that the one girl she actually liked was unreceptive to her charms? Liv was out there with a flourishing love life, and the only person Peyton could get with was Blaine DeBeers. Because yes, that happened, the memories often resurfacing to remind her of her horrible luck with relationships. 

Peyton decided she had to vent to someone. Envious and bitter of Liv's growing luck with girls, she turned to the only man more hopeless than herself - Ravi. He was somehow even worse with women, his last hookup being some journalist using him for his insider knowledge in... something. Anyway, she'd stormed off when he confronted her, and poor Ravi remained single ever since. This had been six months ago, and recently he had shown interest in rom-coms, probably some weird way of living vicariously through others. He'd most likely jump at the chance to listen to Peyton's many woes. 

**_Peyton:_ Ravi, you've been to positivity**

**_Ravi:_ What is it this time? **

**_Peyton:_ Are the baristas trained to be weirdly ecstatic or is mine just like that**

**_Ravi:_ They're all like that.**

That was one mystery solved. 

**_Peyton:_ also i have an issue**

**_Ravi:_ Who is it this time?**

**Ravi: Don't tell me it's Blaine again.**

**_Peyton:_ ew no**

**_Peyton:_  im trying to flirt but the barista doesnt seem to realise**

**_Ravi:_ I just use my natural charm. Works every time.**

**_Peyton:_  wow, so helpful**

She shut off her phone, and glanced over at the counter. They had just finished preparing her drink, and Corinne was scrawling something on the side. Odd - Peyton could've sworn Corinne wrote the name on when she first ordered. Well, she'd probably just forgotten something. 

"Espresso for- Peyton?" Corinne called, sliding the cup across the counter. 

"Mmm-hmm."

"Here you go! Enjoy!"

Peyton turned the to-go cup around in her hands. The pen on the side had not quite dried, apparently - her nails were now covered in black marker, as were the tips of her fingers. She turned it over to read the writing, hoping they'd misspelled her name in a way funny enough for snapchat. 

Instead of a name, there was a message. Well, it appeared to be a message. She couldn't quite tell under the smudges of the ink, but she could see enough to make out the start of a number. The Seattle area code. Oh no. 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

"Liv! Liv, are you there?" 

Peyton practically sprinted into their apartment, nearly making the door crash from its hinges. What was Liv up to? There was nobody on the couch, the TV was off, and the whole flat was nearly silent. It wasn't one of Liv's work days - she had a whole week off. Curious, Peyton peeked into Liv's room.

Ah. 

Liv was in bed, sporting an oversized shirt Peyton didn't recognise. She wasn't alone. Beside her, covered by Liv's duvet, was a sleeping girl with red hair. She looked familiar, but Peyton couldn't tell who it was.

"Sorry, I'll leave you alone." Peyton quickly swivelled around and left the room, making a mental note to knock next time. She'd really wanted to ask Liv what to do next, since she was the one with the flourishing love life - but clearly that flourishing love life was making her more unavailable than usual. She resolved that as soon as Liv's latest partner had left, she'd go ask for advice. 

For now though, she was going to tell Ravi exactly what she just saw. 

* * *

 "Liv." Peyton said, practically dragging her best friend away from the door. "I need your help." 

"Ravi told me." 

"He... what? How did he have time?" 

"So, Corinne?" Liv asked, expertly avoiding the question. "You got her number?"

"Yeah..." Peyton admitted. "I just don't know what to do next."

Once upon a time, Peyton had been the one with the relationship advice, the one with a boyfriend and a long list of admirers. Recently though, she hadn't had any time for romance, and her flirting skills were out of practice. In addition to this, she didn't figure that Corinne would be down for Peyton's usual first date plans - drinking games. This was so much easier with men, especially considering some of them had literally no standards. 

Liv thought about it for a second, and then booted up her laptop. 

"It's time for some facebook stalking." 

* * *

 

"Well, I've been through every Corinne I could find - conclusion, she doesn't use facebook." Peyton sighed, closing the lid of Liv's computer. "I suppose I'll never know what kind of girl she likes."

"What kind of monster doesn't use facebook?" Liv shuffled closer, and turned her laptop to face her. "I bet her account's on private. Give me a minute."

Liv began to type insanely fast, and a few seconds later she had a low-res image of a group of girls on her screen. "Any of these your Corinne?" Peyton examined the photo in surprise, as she realised Liv had already found her. In the middle of the photo, sat on a brick wall, was Corinne. 

"Yeah, that's her! How did you do that?" Liv didn't answer, just clicked the friend request button. "Liv-"

"Don't worry about it." Liv said before Peyton could properly scold her. "She knows who I am, so it's not weird that I want to be her friend. She'll never know my true motivation." Liv smiled, and Peyton did too. "See? Accepted already."

Peyton grabbed the computer from Liv's hands and began to read Corinne's profile. 

"Works at Positivity. Lives in Seattle. Single. Born 27th December." She knew all this already, so kept going. "Likes - Smallville, Tower Prep, Ms. Matched..." After that, the page was empty. Well, that was a waste of time. Peyton didn't even know what Tower Prep was, and Smallville had bored her after one episode. She had nothing to say about these things and it looked like she had literally nothing in common with Corinne. 

Peyton felt significantly worse about her prospects now. 

"Don't worry!" Liv said, putting her arm around Peyton's waist to comfort her. "I'm sure you still have lots you can bond over." 

* * *

 

_Liv Moore has added you to MATCHMAKERS_

_18:29_

Peyton Charles: oh wow youre taking this seriously

Peyton Charles: im honored


End file.
